Diary of a Grand Dame

Posted 8 December, 2016

Ethical Food Overberg

At Schoone Oordt Country House, we are passionate about ethical food and especially ethical food that we are able to source in the Overberg. We are passionate about the food that we make, but also the ingredients that we use to make that food. With harvest time in the beautiful Overberg coming to an end we thought we’d share the passion we have for our stone ground flour supplier, Eureka Mills. Yes, Eureka Mills is as passionate about their ethical food as we are and what a wonderfully long way they’ve come to the success that they are today.

Eureka Mills started out in 1998 as the brainchild of the Uys cousins, Lafras and Pieter, from Karringmelksrivier in the Overberg; two grain farmers looking to create a value-added product from their crop. They set up a small stone grounding plant and ...

Posted 2 November, 2016

The Country Butcher in Swellendam

At Schoone Oordt we love to support our local Swellendam suppliers. Like many other towns in the Overberg, Swellendam boasts a variety of amazing shops providing top quality produce. The Country Butcher in Swellendam is just one of these many wonderful, small town treasures. Opening in April 2015 Schoone Oordt has supported them since day one and we can truly say that we receive excellent service and outstanding produce from The Country Butcher Swellendam.

Co-owner, Gwynedd, wanted to give the store an “anything-but-a-butcher” look and feel and she’s surely succeeded. It is a butchery with a deli-type atmosphere dressed in the finest attire with a modern and quirky interior, neat and pristine displays and the inviting aroma of coffee and freshly backed artisan bread in the air welcomes you on entry.

Yes, not only do they supply superb meat products but they also bake scrumptious artisan ciabatta breads every ...

Posted 14 September, 2016

Swellendam Wedding

It was a Saturday morning on a beautiful, sunny but slightly chilly winter’s day in early August and a perfect day for the Swellendam wedding of Ounooi and Jacques. Although it was a small, intimate event with only their closest friends and family, there was an abundance of delight and joy in the air! We love intimate weddings, each bride becomes a life long friend as we travel their wedding journey with them. We are always so honoured to be able to share in their wonderful day of love and happiness.

They held their ceremony on the front steps of the grand old house and guests congregated around our tinkling fountain. Followed by champagne and delicious canapes, a wedding gift from our favourite patiesserie Tredici, on the porch.

We don’t usually offer lunch in The Conservatory, but we made a special exception for Ounooi and Jacques as their wedding was during our quieter period. We did ...

Posted 18 November, 2015

Country Weddings in Swellendam

We love country weddings, especially ones in Swellendam. Country weddings are like small private festivals. Families and friends come from far and wide to spend, not just a few hours, but a whole weekend celebrating beauty, togetherness and the future. Making for a wonderful sense of community and reunion as loved ones create a warm circle of happiness around the bride and groom.

Unlike a city wedding, guests are able to escape their own lives and re-connect, both with themselves and their ‘people’. At Schoone Oordt, wedding parties can spend time before and after the ceremony exploring Swellendam’s restaurants and coffee shops, unwinding on the river – or treating themselves to a pamper at the Rain Forest Spa.

Schoone Oordt, for over a century, has been backdrop to numerous romantic and love-filled events and we feel that we are continuing this legacy by co-creating magical moments with our brides and grooms. As hosts, we ...